California Trip Part II: Seaworld

We drove about an hour and a half from our hotel in Santa Ana to Seaworld in San Diego on Saturday, December 29, 2012. For me it was a welcome change from Universal Studios because the crowds were not so oppressive and we didn't have to wait to do things much at all. The down side was that it rained in the afternoon and evening.

This is Preston feeding the Sea Lions. He was the only kid brave enough to pick up the little fish and throw it over into their habitat.

After experiencing the lines at Universal, we decided to do the roller coaster at Seaworld first before the lines got too long. It was called the Manta and was a pretty good ride--just a little scary for Preston. Right next to the ride, they had an area where you could touch the bat rays. 

The first show we went to was the dolphin/acrobat show. It was quite amazing, but a little hard to capture on camera. 

There were lots of divers and acrobats from the tall scaffolding you see here. In this picture, the man is on a bungee system and kept going up and down doing various tricks each time.

This most be near the end when all the acrobats and dolphins were doing their thing.

There are three Killer Whales at Seaworld. They have an area down a hill below ground level where you can see them in their tank. That's where these pictures are taken.

The Shamu Show! Shamu seems to be the name for one or all of the killer whales. In the early afternoon we went to the Shamu Show. In most shows, there is great wheelchair seating. At this show, which seats, I would guess about 5000 people all the wheelchair seating was full. I stayed with Mark in a "standing room only" section that was accessible for Mark's wheelchair (then eventually found a seat), but the rest of the family went and sat where there was room in the "Splash Zone." They were selling rain ponchos, but we weren't smart enough to buy any. And boy did those killer whales splash the audience. Some people were completely drenched--and it was not that warm and shortly after started to rain. Still the show was pretty amazing!

Kennedy and Mark with Elmo and Zoey.

Since it was raining, we went to see all the indoor attractions we could find. In this picture the people are on a moving sidewalk with a shark tank in a dome overheard.

  

Preston was a big fan of the penguins. They didn't photograph well as there was condensation on the glass/plastic that separated them from us. I was surpised how short penguins are. Most were 2 feet tall or less.

One whole exhibit was dedicated to the arctic. There were walruses, polar bears, a beluga whale and even a real wall of ice for people to touch. The whole building was set up to look like an arctic expedition. I thought this was pretty funny--flights to Moose Jaw.

The walrus was huge and just looked gross--like the fatty part of the outside of a ham.

Giant Sea Turtle

Tropical Fish

In the late afternoon we found this ride which the kids really enjoyed.

We took Mark with us and went on the Gondola over San Diego bay. My fear of heights really came into play on this one, but it was still pretty neat. As you can see, it wasn't very nice weather.

The Seal Lion and Otter show was a comedy and it was really funny--even though the Otter misses all of his cues. Our favorite part was when santa's helper asked the sea lion if he'd like some Christmas Casserole and the sea lion bends forward as if to puke and makes an extremely loud gagging sound. Some members of our family could relate!

After Seaworld, we experienced In 'N Out Burger. After walking all day and shivering from the cold/rain, i didn't even feel guilty about eating a hamburger, milkshake and fries!